Rheostat



A. PAPINI.

RHEOSTAT.y APPLICATION FILED ocT. Ia, 1919.

1,335,022. Patented Mar. 30,1920.

I A/E F I II By .i 5 l 24 24 IIIm/IIJEI/s.v

rent, according to the position of the free j UNITED ,STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANTONIO 12A-PINI, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AssIGNon rro A. M EOKY COMPANY, OF'IHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CQRPORATION 0F PENN- S'YLVANIA.

To all 'wahom it may concern;

Be it known that'I, ANTONIO PAPINI, a `subject of the King OfItaly, having resided in the United States one year last past and having declared my intention of becominga citizen thereof, residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Rheostat, of which the following is a specification.'

My invention consists of a novel construction '-of'a rheostat, comprising a suitable insulating casing, having a chamber therein filled with layers of mica mixed. ,withV graphite in suitable proportions and disks of metal or other`conductingmaterial arranged withlin said '-layers, `said layers and disks being adapted to be 'compressed within said casing or cylindenand provision being made by means of a suitable pivoted spring. arm contact device to vary the flow of the cur.-

end of said spring arm with respectto `con-l tact lugs on said disks, which4 latter project in alinement through a slot inthe casingl located below the free end. of said spring arm contact. Y y

It further consists of a novel construction of a slotted insulating casing or cylinder having a chamber therein for'the reception of the resistance Amaterialand lconducting disks, means being provided and carried on said casing for retaining said disks and recsistance material in assembled position and `under Vsuitable compression, which can be varied according toy require-b ments.

It further consists .of'a novel construc\ tion of a contact disk made of metal or similar conducting material and provided with` a projecting lug adapted to serve as a contact point. y

It further consists, f a novel construction of longitudinally slo ted casing having ay chamber therein for the reception of the rey sistance material and disks, said casingbeing provided with a plug or closure adapt; `ed to be actuated by a suitable'threaded yscrew supported on .a bar carried byfsaid 0 casing.

It further consists of other novel features sults.

Speeication of Letters Patent. Patented. Mar. 30, 192() Application led october 13,

1'919. serial No. 3o,515.

.Ofconstructiom all as will be hereinafter vention, I have shown in the accompanying drawings, forms thereofwhi'ch are at present preferred by me, since they will give in' practice satisfactory and reliable re- It is tobe understood that' the various instrumentalities of whichrmy, invenorganized and that myl invention ,is v'not limited to the precise arrangement and organization ofv these instrumentalities as herein shown and described'.

Figure 1 represents a top view o f a novel construction of rheostat, ,embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 represents a front view of Fig. l.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 represents a plan view Of'ion'e of the ,cylinder 2, whichis preferably made out of porcelain or other refractory material, and having the holes 3 therethroughfor the reception of the,bolts`4, the heads 5 df lsaid bolts being preferably seatedl in the re.- cesses 6, so as t0 give a neat appearance. to

tion consists can' be variously arranged and.

` Fig. 3 represents a section Online 3-3 ofv the casing and the vlatterbeing rovided with'- the feet or legs 7, having' the oles 8 the'rein for suitable fasteningdevices, whereby the casing can befastened tothe wall, floor or other desired point,

'The' casing is provided with the cup-,.1

shapedlf cavity Or chamber 9, within which are contained the layers 10, of resistance ma'- terial, such -as mica mixed with graphite 'in suitable proportions, said layers ,being divided by the vdisks .11 of metal'or the like, said disks each having ,av lug 12 thereon,-

which lugs serve 'as contacts- .and .aline when the parts are assembled, as will be understood from Fig. 1. 5 l

13- designates a porcelain plugor closure,

which isr engaged by the threaded headless screw 14, which passes through the bar 15, whose ends 16 have holes therein, through which pass the ends of the bolts 4.

The screw 14 has a slot 17 therein, so that it can be readily turned by a suitable implement, and the opposite end of said screw contacts with a seat 18 in the closure 13.

19 designates a spring arm contact, having the insulating finger piece 2O at one end and being fulcrumed or pivoted at 2l.

22 designates a Ibinding post having one end of the conductor 23 connected thereto, theother conductor 24 being connected to the binding post 25, which comprises theY binding post pin 26, which passes through the wall 27 of the casing 2 and is riveted to the contiguous end plate or disk 11 seen in Fig. 3, the parts being held in assembled position by the nut 28. 29 designates a conductor and 30 designa-tes a longitudinally extending slot, in the top wall of the casing 2, through which the alining lugs or contacts 12 of the disks 11 project when the parts are assembled, as seen in Fig. 1.

The operation is as follows The parts having been assembled as seen in Figs. l and 2, it will be seenthat the chamber 9 is filled with the layers of mica and raphite 10' and the interposed disks 11. heplug or closure 13 having been placed in position and the desired amount of compression having been exerted thereupon by reason of the screw 14, it will be apparent that when the contact arml 19 is in the position seen in Fig. 1, which is its lowest position, the free end of said arm lis positioned between a pair of contact lugs 12 and rests on the resistance material, s o that no Contact is' madewith any of the disks 11, whereby no current passes, or in other words, the current is interrupted. Upon moving the arm 19 upwardly from the position seen inFig. 1, it will be apparent that as said arm ismoved with re- 'spect to the contact lugs 12 of the disks 11, l

the current will flow from the conductor 23 and will pass through the binding post 25,

the pin 26, the disks upon which the free end of the contact arm 19 contacts, and the resistance material between the disks, thence through the disk on which the contact arm 19 is set, then throughthe contact arm 19, the .binding post 22`and conductor 23 to the apparatus or lamps back to the conductor 29.

As thelever or contact arm 19l is gradually moved to the .top end ofthe rheostat seen in Fig. 1, the resistance is going to be decreased accordingly, and when said contact 19 rests upon the uppermost or top diskll, there will be a short circuit, or, in other words,the current will pass through all metallic conductors.

It will be apparent from the foregoing,

`that my device can be readily and cheaply constructed, since the disks 11 with' their lugs 12 are all of one uniform or standard size, and that the resistance material and disks having been assembled, the desired amount of compression on the same can be readily attained by the rotation of the screw 14, and when it is desired to have access to the chamber 9 containing the resistance material and disks, this can be readily` attained upon the removal of the nuts from the reliable results, it is to be understood that the same is susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention or sacrificing any of'its advantages.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a rheostat, a casing of non-conducting material having a chamber therein, layers of resistance material and disks contained within said chamber, said disks having contact points thereon projecting through a longitudinally extending slot in said casing, means for compressing said disks and resistance material, and a spring contact arm rotatably mounted upon said casing and adapted to contact with said contact points.A4

2. In a rheostat, a casing of non-conducting material having a chamber therein open at one end and closedtat the other, layers of resistance material and disks contained within said chamber', said disks having contact lugs projecting through a longitudinally extending slot in said casing, a closure for the open end of said chamber, means for actuating said closure, and a spring contact arm rotatably mounted upon said casingand adapted to contact with said lugs.

3.l In a rheostat, a casing of non-conducting material'havinga chamber therein, open at one end and closed at the other, layers of resistance material and disks contained within said chamber, said disks having contact lugs projecting through a longitudinally extending slot in a wall ofsaid casing, a closure for the open end of said chamber, bolts passing longitudinally through said casing, a bar extending across the open through said casing, the open end of said position by said bolts,

a bar extending across caslng and retalned 1n 15 and a screw7 earned by said bar and contacting with said closure for exerting pressure thereon,

in combinay tion with a binding 'post pin passing through the closed Wall of said casing and 20 secured to the contiguous disk.

ANTONIO PAPINI.

Witnesses JOHN A. WIEDERSHEIM, N. BUssrNGER. 

